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August 5, 2024
ANTIGO – Mike Suick, the great-grandson of the man who invented the “Thriller” jerk bait prized by muskie anglers throughout the country, has purchased Suick Lure Company from his father, Steve – becoming the company’s fourth-generation owner.
“Growing up, I had no clue what the name Suick meant to the sport of muskie fishing,” Mike, who can often be found chasing muskies on Pelican Lake, said. “I’m proud to continue my family’s legacy, and I am determined to pass it onto the next generation someday.”
Mike’s father acquired co-ownership of Suick Lure from his uncle, Jim Suick, in 1980, and then completed the buyout of his father, John, in the 1990s – though John remained involved with the company until his death in 2021.
The company was founded by Jim and John’s father, Frank, in 1939.
In his blood
Mike, 36, said he began working part-time at Suick Lure when he was 10 years old through high school.
After high school, he went on to earn an associate’s degree from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.
Mike said he has worked full-time for the company since 2010.
“It took me moving away to fully appreciate (the company),” he said.
After rejoining the business, Mike said he started in the factory making lures in 2010 and entered sales in 2012, where he held mostly Wisconsin accounts.
By 2015, he said he was in charge of all sales.
Steve said he is confident that business is in good hands – crediting his son for what he called “tremendous growth” and improvements in the product line over the past decade.
“Without Mike, none of this would have happened,” he said.
Steve said Mike reinvigorated the entire business – first with the creation of the company’s website (suick.com).
Mike’s next strategic move, Steve said, was the purchase of Shack Attack in 2012, followed by the addition of the High Impact line of plastic Muskie Thrillers in 2013.
These, Steve said, were accompanied by weight systems and leaders to complement the Muskie Thrillers, and a line of apparel bearing the Suick logo followed.
Such rapid growth, Mike said, resulted in the company running out of room – prompting the move to the former Spring Valley School northeast of Antigo (N4754 County Road BB), which more than quadrupled the company’s manufacturing space.
‘The bait that thrills’
According to Frank Suick’s story on the company’s website, written by Todd Koehn, Frank came up with the design for the original Thriller after observing the actions of a dying trout.
Koehn said Frank carved a lure to mimic that action and experimented on Pelican Lake – known to locals as the “Home of the Muskie” – hitching rides on Chicago and Northwestern Railroad freight trains to get there.
At the time, muskies were typically caught by casting or trailing suckers behind a rowboat, a long and tedious process.
Koehn said Frank figured out a better way, whittling a crude lure with a jackknife from a piece of cedar.
From his many hours of observation, Koehn said Frank figured out that muskies were attracted to sick or injured prey that would repeatedly dive and resurface – therefore, he focused his efforts on mimicking that action.
After a bit of trial and error, and some say some accidental knife cuts, Koehn said Frank developed a wooden lure with an adjustable stainless-steel tail that allowed it to be “tuned” to various depths.
Koehn said Frank painted the lures in combinations of gray, black and white with red gills – which created an eye-catching flash that muskies couldn’t resist.
According to Koehn, it was a huge success, with Frank once catching 30 muskies in 30 days.
That drew the attention of fellow Pelican Lake anglers, who jokingly presented a petition demanding he take his tackle elsewhere.
The petition, which is included in the company’s history, read: “Gentlemen, We, the undersigned hereby petition your honorable body and the Honorable Governor of the State of Wisconsin, to hereby issue an order to prohibit Frank Suick of the city of Antigo, County of Langlade, State of Wisconsin from fishing or taking of fish in Pelican Lake, located in Oneida County, until such time whereby other fishermen can catch fish out of the above-mentioned lake. We hereby do this in the interest of Muskies at large.”
According to the company’s history, more than 60 signatures were documented.
Koehn said one Pelican Lake cottage owner didn’t take it as a joke and refused to pay his taxes for the year if Frank continued fishing there – though Koehn’s historical piece doesn’t indicate if he carried through on the threat.
Joking or not, Koehn said the petition had the effect of drawing attention to the Thriller innovation, and soon, anglers throughout the region were clamoring for the lure.
Koehn said that was only enhanced when Frank mounted and displayed many of his trophies at the family’s downtown Antigo tavern, which soon became known as Suick’s Muskie Bar.
The display, Koehn notes, drew a steady mix of gawkers and serious fishermen, all angling to learn the secret of landing those monster fish.
By the late 1940s, Suick’s Muskie Bar – according to the company’s history – had the largest display of muskie mounts and heads in the world.
Frank called the Thriller “the bait that thrills muskies and you.”
Koehn said Frank began commercially producing the lure in 1939, gaining fame as the “Muskie Professor” and even appearing in the motion picture.
He also designed specialty muskie rods with Heddon Tackle Company.
Koehn said Frank was posthumously inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2007.
Building on success
The company’s flagship lure remains the Muskie Thriller, which Mike said is available in six sizes in original wood and plastic models.
Other lures made under the Suick name, he said, include the Nitewalker, Wabull and Weagle. Mike said the company also manufactures the Cisco Kid line of injection-molded crankbaits, and the Shack Attack lineup of soft plastic lures – which aim to complement, not compete with, the Thriller.
“These are all different types of lures for completely different markets,” he said. “We are actively seeking out different corners of the market and constantly seeking to broaden our horizons.”
Antigo is home
Today, all the lures continue to be manufactured in Antigo, a feat Mike said he “is extremely proud of.”
The plan, he said, is to continue the company’s growth and remain in Antigo.
“We have lots of great baits that are staples for muskie fishermen, but new products run this business,” he said. “Suick Lure Company started in Antigo, and we plan to remain here for years to come. This community has been great to us.”
From its rural Antigo base, Mike said Suick lures are shipped throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as overseas to Sweden, Great Britain and Germany, where they are used on northern pike that can grow as large as muskies.
“I see growth in the market,” he said. “We’re still growing as a company, and I don’t see the sport going anywhere anytime soon. Every year, there is more competition, but for every three companies that start up, two disappear – we stick with it.”
Muskies have a reputation of taking 10,000 casts to catch one fish – but Mike said that hasn’t deterred new anglers.
The advent of YouTube videos, he said, has shortened the learning curve.
Mike said the popularity of catch-and-release and muskie replicas, which eliminate the need to sacrifice a fish for a wall mount, have also improved the success rate – making it “unbelievably better.”
“Anyone, with good equipment, now has a legitimate chance of catching a muskie,” he said.
One thing that hasn’t changed with Suick Lure Company, Mike said, is the allure his great-grandfather Frank felt, almost a century ago.
“The fight and power of that fish is so intense that, as soon as you catch one, you want to get another one,” he said. “People call it an addiction… and it probably is.”
For more information, visit suick.com.
